Lending to the agricultural industry: ACC increases volumes, experts talk about the importance of financing the industry

NUR-SULTAN. KAZINFORM - The unpredictability of prices for export goods increases the importance of agriculture for Kazakhstan. This happens due to the importance of import substitution, since the import of food products is growing from year to year, as well as the focus on exports, which will help replenish the treasury, reports MIA Kazinform.

The development of the agricultural industry remains a priority of the country's economy, included in all major state programs. But, despite the growth in production, the industry remains low in labor productivity due to outdated technologies and equipment. One of the reasons is lack of funding. Due to regulatory reasons, banks cannot finance the sector fully, so the state plays a key role in supporting the agro-industrial complex, says financier Rasul Rysmambetov.

“Unfortunately, commercial banks, due to the peculiarities of the economy and staff turnover, cannot accumulate expertise in specific sectors of agriculture,” he notes.

The largest institution supporting the industry is NMH KazAgro JSC, whose subsidiaries - the Agrarian Credit Corporation (ACC), the Fund for Financial Support of Agriculture and Kazagrofinance - pour money into the agricultural industry. In 2019 alone, the holding financed agricultural entities worth 477 billion tenge, of which over 448 billion were allocated for agricultural lending and leasing of agricultural equipment.

Most of these funds were allocated through ACC, which from 2001 to 2019 provided loans to the agricultural industry of Kazakhstan for 1.28 trillion tenge. By the beginning of July 2020, ACC's loan portfolio amounted to 570.2 billion, which was 22% more than a year earlier.

“Due to preferential loans, agricultural entities can create new and modernize existing production facilities, buy livestock, agricultural machinery and equipment,” says Rysmambetov.

Direct lending in the ACC portfolio in 2019 amounted to only 44%, the rest was funding for banks, microfinance organizations, credit partnerships and leasing companies. By 2026, ACC plans to move away from direct lending, focusing only on funding. Requirements for borrowers' collateral are more lenient than in second-tier banks and take into account the liquidity of farmers' property.

For example, ACC lends to farmers through credit partnerships at rates of no more than 9% per annum, farmer associations receive loans at 6% per annum, and finance spring field and harvesting work at 5% per annum. At the expense of the National Fund, investment projects are financed at 8%.

In 2020, including as a result of the efforts of development institutions, says Rysmambetov, the agro-industrial complex increased its gross output by 5% - to 2.4 trillion tenge.

https://www.inform.kz/ru/kreditovanie-agroproma-akk-uvelichivaet-ob-emy-eksperty-govoryat-o-vazhnost...